Science Fiction Exploration

This program features an introduction and epilogue read by the author. "In the grand tradition of Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson, we now have a new tour guide to the cosmos."―Charles Cockell, Professor of Astrobiology, University of Edinburgh "Absorbing, informative, and entertaining...

On the edge of a far frontier rests a place of gentle manners and common civility - Last Chance. Threats of war change all of that. A hero is needed. A savior. Meet Aaron Turner, the small unassuming man who runs the Last Chance General Store. He may not be all that they hoped for.

In the aftermath of an asteroid impact, Earth’s power grid is damaged nearly beyond recovery. The survival of our world may well depend on energy sources collected from an abandoned undersea settlement beneath the icy surface of Enceladus. Earth-raised Colonel Carter Rhodes, in charge of Earth’s recovery efforts, calls upon Gwen Baré, a Venusian engineer, to regain control of the deserted moon outpost and collect fuel for Earth’s collapsing power grids.

Sandstorm: Publisher's Pack 2 contains the final two books in the Sandstorm series: Dustborn, Book 3 and War Torn, Book 4. Tired, dirty, and sick, the Red Rock survivors eke out an existence on the Watchers' cliffs, hoping to avoid the monster. But life up high is almost as bad as life on the ground. Water is scarce, and no meal is guaranteed. And deep inside the tunnels, a new threat is building, something that might consume them all....

In Flight of the Wild Gander, renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell - in his first collection of essays, written between 1944 and 1968 - explores the individual and geographical origins of myth, outlining the full range of mythology from Grimm's fairy tales to American Indian legends. Originally published in 1969, this collection describes the symbolic content of stories: how they are linked to human experience and how they - along with our experiences - have changed over time.

Hackett, in his trusty ship the Perseus, is not just a space traveller—beginning his travels with an expedition to Neptune and back—but, thanks to the time-dilation effect, a time traveller as well. His new mission will take him to Andromeda, to get a close-up look at the constellation which will eventually crash into the Milky Way, and give humanity a heads-up about the challenges which are coming. A mission which will take him five million years to complete. Not only is Hackett exploring unknown space, but he will return to a vastly different time.

Captain Jim Garrett thought his navy career was over. But when aliens attacked, he took the helm of an experimental warship, leading her into battle for the first time. Now, he commands a ragged fleet of ships that survived the alien onslaught. Their crews are inexperienced and exhausted but there’s no time to rest. Garrett must shape them into a lethal fighting force. His deadliest enemies may come from within. A rival captain threatens mutiny, furious that Garrett is now his superior.

No one has ever ventured deeper into space than the four astronauts of Shepherd-1. The aim of their mission is to witness the creation of the cosmos. Using the sun as a lens, they are to align a flock of probes in such a way that the moment of the Big Bang becomes visible. For astronomer Christine, this is a dream come true. So she is bitterly disappointed when the first images are obscured by a kind of veil that prevents any insight. She works obsessively to find a solution, but when she finally succeeds in lifting the veil, she sees something that would have been better kept hidden...

Half-Navajo geologist Jamie Waterman has been selected for the ground team of the first manned expedition to our mysterious neighbor planet. Joining an international team of astronauts and scientists, he endures the rigors of training, the dangers of traveling an incredible distance in space, the challenges of an alien landscape, and the personal and political conflicts that arise when the team must face the most shocking discovery of all.

After a brazen rescue mission to the Citadel, the crew of the Trash Squid have rescued Captain Axel Finn. During their escape, a dying Admiral Jessup tells Axel he must lead the resistance, and that he must start it where his father made his last stand, on the mining world of Furia. On the planet Runi, Sergeant Jax Brito returns to her family farm to find her father on his deathbed. After dealing with the thugs that put him there, her trip is cut short when a Clipper arrives with a message—the Citadel has been attacked and forces are gathering to take it back.

Korri Fontenot left family behind on Earth a century ago to fight in a war that broke her body and her mind. Now, her great-granddaughter, Jackie, has followed in her footsteps. First as a Marine and then as a mercenary outlaw, Jackie has made the mistake of breaking into a secret corporate lab and stealing an ancient alien artifact. Dark forces want the artifact back.

Terror stalks a new world colony. After nearly two hundred years’ travel, humanity’s first deep space colony expedition has arrived at its new home. Ethan, the descendant of six generations who lived and died aboard ship, treads on soil and feels the wind and rain for the first time. But the new planet is not the paradise the scientists predicted. Alien predators lurk beyond the camp’s perimeter, and stowaway saboteurs are determined no one will survive. Tensions in the new colony rise, and Ethan must fight to preserve the last hope of humankind.

Twenty years after the elemental conflict that nearly tore apart the cosmos in The Saga of Seven Suns, a new threat emerges from the darkness. The human race must set aside its own inner conflicts to rebuild their alliance with the Ildiran Empire for the survival of the galaxy. In Kevin J. Anderson's The Dark Between the Stars, galactic empires clash, elemental beings devastate whole planetary systems, and factions of humanity are pitted against one another.

Matthew is a normal 11-year-old boy living with his parents and little sister in Surrey. He's too old and sensible to have an imaginary friend really. Yet when Matthew's parents keep finding him talking and arguing with a strange presence whom Matthew calls Chocky, that's what they believe it must be…at first. But Chocky is oddly sinister, and keeps asking Matthew all sorts of complicated questions about the world and making him behave in unusual and erratic ways. Then Matthew suddenly does something heroic, well beyond his capabilities; the media become interested and the interest in Matthew widens.

After a rough break up, Wyatt moves to New York City, eager to prove himself while working on Wall Street. When he’s asked to visit the father of his ex-girlfriend, a billionaire tycoon, his fate is sealed. The revolutionary company, Nu-En, launches a radical innovation, an energy that will allow every person on the planet access to power. Only it doesn’t perform as anticipated. Harnessing the ocean has consequences, and highly dangerous creatures emerge from the depths. Soon, the Earth is fracturing, and the world will never be the same.

Admiral Jack Romanoff and his people have begun the liberation of Vesuvius from the xenophobic Novarites, but even something that straightforward is difficult. The enemy outnumbers them, and removing the threat won’t be easy. Worse, they are killing humans in job lots, so time is of the essence.

Jazz Bashara es una criminal... O al menos lo parece. La vida en Artemisa, la primera y única ciudad de la Luna, es difícil si no eres un turista adinerado o un multimillonario excéntrico. Así que hacer un poco de contrabando de lo más inofensivo no cuenta, ¿verdad? Sobre todo cuando hay que pagar deudas y tu trabajo como transportista apenas paga el alquiler.

Cats don’t really have nine lives, but they can visit nine different lives, anywhere, anytime. This is the secret Jason’s cat, Gareth, tells him. When Jason hears this, he begs to go along. Soon cat and boy find themselves in ancient Egypt on the first of nine fantastic adventures. With the wink of an eye, Jason and Gareth are transported to alluring settings in world history. On their travels they meet interesting and famous people, such as St. Patrick, and Leonardo Da Vinci. Whether the destination is Renaissance Italy or revolutionary America, their appearance never fails to cause a stir.

The Dusahn Empire has been contained for the moment. But there is much work to be done in order to keep them from reasserting their dominance over the Pentaurus sector. As much as Captain Scott wants to see the Empire destroyed, he may have no choice but to find a way to coexist with them.

If life were fair, ace pilot Jose Carriles should have ended up a desk jockey like his former friend Corin Timony, back on the lunar colony of New Destiny. Instead, he’s the pilot of the Mosaic—a massive ship taking the Interstellar Union’s first-ever mission to outside our solar system. Timony should have been the best spy at the Bazaar, the lunar colony’s international intelligence arm. Instead, she’s been demoted to admin duties like monitoring long-range communications. She has no one to blame but herself—and maybe Carriles.